SUBSCRIBE TO JAMES VS. BURGER

THE STEAK DIARIES: Flat Iron Steak – Finsbay Flatiron, Glasgow

Flat iron steak, otherwise commonly known as butler’s steak in the UK or oyster blade in Australia is a lean cut of meat from the shoulder that’s typically cheaper than the more traditional cuts that you’re likely to find in steakhouses. It can be fairly tough if not prepared correctly, so the fact that this fairly new west-end pop-up turned restaurant had focused their entire menu around it certainly caught my eye.

The menu is simple. There’s flat iron steak and that’s pretty much it. You order your steak for £8 (£10 on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday) and then add sides. There’s fries, vegetables, mac and cheese and a couple of others. You can add sauces or butters too. Other than that, there’s some wine and that’s your lot. And it works. It was strangely nice walking into the restaurant knowing what I was ordering before I even sat down.

We started off with some Malbec and ordered our steaks medium rare. The staff; who were all very enthusiastic, wanted to know if we’d eaten flat iron before and offered various recommendations on how it should be cooked and good side pairings. We settled on the market greens and some garlic butter too. There was one sauce named ‘chipotle funk’, which caught my eye. Maybe next time.

The steak arrived looking – and smelling – fantastic. It was brought out pre-sliced, resting on the steak knife. For the price, there was also a very liberal amount of garlic butter per person too. Top marks for presentation.

I moved a couple of slices to the side to inspect the steak and it was cooked to perfection. It had lovely deep charring on the outside too. So far, so good.

In the back of my mind, I’m thinking ‘how can this only be £8?’, not knowing how it was going to taste. But it tasted good. Really good. It was packed full of flavour, it was incredibly juicy and the sprinkling of salt on top of the steak really enhanced the taste.

As you’ll know from previous entries on the blog, steak and garlic butter is my thing. I dropped the butter on the top after tasting a couple of slices and let it melt. The garlic butter running over this already excellent cut of beef really took this meal to spectacular levels. There’s a small rocket salad on the side and it finished the dish off perfectly. I was stunned at how good this was the price. With each bite, I kept repeating ‘this is eight quid. I can’t believe this is eight quid‘. Even writing this review, I’m still thinking about how good it was.

The market greens were a mix of crispy kale and broccoli. This would have been a perfect little side had it not been for the copious amounts of salt on it. While the sprinkling of salt on the meat really complimented the taste, there was so much salt on the greens that they probably could have been preserved. The lovely greens really didn’t need this at all.

I can’t recommend Finsbay Flatiron enough. The simple, single-option menu really works in it’s favour and the food is stunning. For two steaks, two sides, two glasses of wine and two coffees, our bill came to £38. This is easily one of the best value meals in Glasgow. I can’t wait to go back.

Talk to James on Twitter and Instagram and tell us what you thought of this steak! You can also leave your own review and comments below. We want to hear from you! You can also leave a message or join in on the steak and general food chat on our Facebook page.